Textile feinting apparatus



April 28, 1942. s. B. STAFFORD TEXTILE PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 20, 1939 4 Sheets-Shae 1 .LBNNW a an Stephen B. Stafford C? WLtnass: Omani W April 28', 1942. s. B. STAFFORD 2,281,211

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FIELDS AND CONTROL. CIRCUIT Fig.7

Zinnentot Stephen B. Stafford Witness: W51); H. W Y (Zttorneg Patented Apr. 28, 1942 TEXTILE PRINTING APPARATUS Stephen B. Stafford, Oxford, Mass., assignor to Rice Barton Corporation, acorporation of Massachusetts Application October 20, 1939, Serial No. 300,433

18 Claims.

This invention relates to textile printing apparatus and more particularly to mechanism for presenting a fabric to the printing machine.

A textile printing machine of standard construction comprises "oneor more engraved printing rolls and a backing cylinder arranged with associated parts for printinga trip of fabric continuously. Owing to variations in the yarn and the weave, the fabric may vary in width as it runs, or it may crease or fold or pull out of shape, so that it runs sideways or wanders or becomes distorted in shape, and it has been difficult to secure an accurate registration of the fabric with the engraved surface on the printing roll. Hence, it has been customary to have the engraving extend on the roll slightly farther than the width of the fabric, and to take up the printing ink beyond the edges of the fabric by means of a wider back gray cloth which travels with the goods to be printed. But that requires frequent cleaning ofthe back'gray cloth, andthe excess of ink at the edges may result in spoiling someof the fabric.

A standard procedure and apparatus for feed ing a long. web of fabric to a printing machine has comprised mounting a'rollof' the fabric on a shaft carrying a brake drum which has a weighted strap applying pressure to the drum. Thisbrake thus holds back on the fabric as it is drawn forward by the printing press and so keeps it under some tension. But, as the fabric unwinds from-theroll, the radius of the roll decreases and'the roll rotates at. an increasingly faster rate, so that the tension applied by the brake band gradually changes, and the fabric is not fed forward to the printer under uniform conditions.

It has also been customary to use a helical spreader comprising a roll'having screw threads thereon extending in opposite directions from the center which tends to spread the cloth. This spreader located in advance of the printing machine will take out scrimps or folds in the fabric, but it will not track the fabric or feed it forward with its edges held uniformly in alignment with the edges of the engraved surface of the printing roll. In order to accomplish this tracking, the operator has heretofore forcibly moved the roll of fabric along its supporting shaft and thus has attempted a crude adjustment, but this procedure is neither accurate nor automatic.

A further problem has been presented in the use of the back ,gray cloth which is used as a blotter to take up excess ink that, comes through the fabric or around the edges thereof. If the back gray goes wild in its travel, it may crease or wander or become distorted or of variable width; and owing to any of these defects, the back gray may lead astray the fabric that is to be printed and so result in a non-uniform printing operation. The back gray should be led forward to the printing press under controlled conditions which are substantially similarto those required for the goods to be printed.

When the supply roll of fabric or back gray cloth has become exhausted, it has been necessary heretofore to stop the-printing machine and sew onto the fabric or cloth the leading end of another roll so that the new material will be pulled forward through the machine. The printing press, however, leaves a defective mark on the fabric when standing still, and it is necessary to cut the fabric and remove such defective portions. It is desirable that the machine run continuously and that both the goods to be printed and the back gray cloth be fed forward'in such a manner that the machine need not be stopped during a long period of operation. So may problemshave been presented in the continuous printing of fabric, that the seconds or goods of inferior grade'have often run as high as20%. This uneconomic production is caused largely by poor registration of the fabric with the printing roll, and this is in turn caused by the uncontrolled passage of the fabric and the back gray from their sources of supply to the printer.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to overcome the above problems and to provide an apparatus for feeding the fabric to a printing machine under conditions tending to produce a uniform product, and particularly to provide mechanism which will feed the fabric forward under uniform tension and at a uniform width and in registration with the printing roll.

' A further object is to provide such an apparatus wherein the printing conditions may be fully controlled by the operator and the apparatus will ogfirs'ate automatically to produce the desired res Another object of .the invention is to provide an automaticallyoperated mechanism for holding either the fabric or the back gray cloth, or both, under any desired tension so as to feed the same properly to the printing press.

A further object is 'to insure that the fabric shall have a uniform width and thatit track with the printing roll without requiring repeated manual adjustment of the mechanism.

Another object is to control the speed of movement of various portions of either the fabric or the back gray, or both, and to accumulate a supply thereof so that the printing machine may operate normally and continuously while a new roll of fabric or. back gray cloth is being attached 'to the end of the one going through the machine.

A further object is to provide mechanism which will insure that both the fabric and the back gray cloth are fed forward under uniform conditions so that the apparatus will operate substantially automatically and serve to print fabric continuously and satisfactorily. Other objects pertaining to the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts will be apparent in the followin disclosure.

Referring to the drawings, "1 have there shown a complete assembly of all of the primary mechanisms which may be used to satisfy all of the above objects; but certain of these mechanisms may be employed by themselves to attain one or more of the desired objects and various simplified constructions may be used within the scope of this invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of the various mechanisms required to feed to the printing press both the fabric and the back gray cloth under controlled conditions;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the mechanism of Fig. 1 pertaining to the feeding of the fabric to be printed;

Fig. 3 is a top planview of the spreading, tensioning, guiding and printing mechanisms which prepare the fabric for the printing operation;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail of the mounting for the driving rolls which feed the fabric to the scray;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the spreader I of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a simplified wiring diagram for the apparatus; and

Fig. 7 is a substantially complete wiring diagram for the same.

In order to satisfy all of the above objects, I propose to feed the fabric forward from a roll A to a scray B at a predetermined rate, and to remove the fabric continuously from that scray at a slightly reduced rate so that the scray will accumulate fabric therein. When the roll A has become unwound, a new roll may be inserted in its place and the free ends of the two strips of fabric fastened together during the period that the fabric is being fed forward from the scray to the printing machine, and thus not require stopping the printing machine motor to permit this change. From the scray, the fabric may pass to a spreader C where it is brought to a uniform width, or this spreader may be omitted. The fabric on the roll A may have been previously stretched on a tentering frame, so that it has a substantially uniform width when it reaches the spreader C; and the latter is then used only for the purpose of insuring that the fabric retain its uniform width and so may be made to track with the printing roll. The printing press D i driven by a suitable motor, and this mechanism tends to pull the cloth forward at a given rate. A tensioning device E holds back on the fabric as it is pulled forward and serves to impose a predetermined tension thereon. Various types of tension mechanism may be employed for this purpose, but I prefer to use a motor which is over driven by the fabric and caused to act as an electrical generator, thus providing a braking action on the movement of the fabric. The fabric is fed from the scray by a motor driven mechanism F, and a synchronizing mechanism H is provided to insure a proper coordination of the speed of this motor with that of the printing press and to aid the tensioning device E. The fabric therefore passes to the printing press under a uniform tension and with its width maintained; A guide mechanism I is provided to insure that the edges of the fabric track with the printing roll or are aligned with the intaglio engraving thereon, so that the engraving need not be made longer than the width of the fabric.

Similarly, if a back gray cloth is to be used, it may be fed from a supply roll J through a scray K by means of a motor driving mechanism L which has its speed adjusted by the electrical control device M. The back gray is held under a proper tension by means of the tension motor mechanism N, and the cloth is likewise tracked by means of a suitable type of guider O. This insures that the back gray and the fabric will be properly fed together into the printing press and each under a suitable tension and aligned with the other as is required for the printing operation.

The textile printing machine may be of any suitable construction, such as the standard Rice Barton printing machine, which i adapted for continuously printing a strip of fabric III that is fed thereto. This construction may comprise a backing cylinder I l around which the cloth fabric is led, together 'with a back gray cloth l2 and a rubber blanket [3, if either of these is to be used. One or more printing rolls H are arranged to engage the cloth, and each is held under pressure thereagainst by means of the adjustable screw 15 suitably mounted on the framework It and arranged to thrust forward the slide block I! which carries the shaft of the printing roll. A large central gear l8 meshes with gears IS on the printing roll shafts and thus serves to drive the printing rolls which in turn drive the backing cylinder II that is mounted for free rotation on its supporting shaft. The driving gear I8 is driven by a further gear 20 mounted on a suitable jack shaft, and this is in turn driven through a chain or belt connection by an electric motor 22, herein termed the printer motor. 'The cloth is fed to the printer D from any suitable source of supply, such as the roll A removably mounted on a suitable support, and standard constructional features, such as rollersr etc., are suitably mounted on the framework of the apparatus or of the building for carrying the fabric from that roll to the printer. These various accessory fea- 0 tures need not be further described.

One feature of this invention involves the provision of mechanism which will feed the fabric from the supply roll A to a receptacle where an excess accumulates in sufficient amount so that, when the end of the roll A has been reached the leading end of a new roll may be sewed to the former 'while the fabric continues to be removed from that receptacle and passed to the printer. For this purpose, Imay utilize various types of mechanism, but I preferably employ a scray. This scray may be-a simple form of receptacle in which an excess of fabric accumulates in loose folds before passing to the printer. The preferred construction, which i illustrated diagrammatically in the drawings, comprises an endless belt so arranged that as the fabric is fed into the scray, it piles up on this belt in folds which are carried forward to the exit' side where the fabric is withdrawn continuously by a motor driven feeding mechanism.

In this construction an endless belt 30 of suitable material, such as a fabric web, is mounted to pass under two lower rolls 3| and. over two upper rolls 32 and 33. If the belt is carried on a chain, sprockets will be used. One of the upper rolls or sprockets 33 is driven from a suitable source of power, as will be described. The belt 30 travels in the directionof the arrow of Fig. 2 under the impelling force of the driving roll. Hence, as the fabric is led into the scray, it piles up in loops in an orderly manner on the traveling belt, and these loops are transported slowly towards the exit end of the device. The fabric is fed to the scray by means of two power driven rolls 35 and 31 suitably mounted on the framework. The lower roll 36 is supported on fixed bearings (Fig. 4) and the upper roll 31 has its shaft carried on two blocks 38 slidably mounted intwo spaced guideways 39 suitably formed in the supporting frame. A compression spring 40 supports each block 38 and tends to lift the upper roll 31 out of contact with the lower roll. A screw 4| is mounted in the frame inengagement with the'block 38 and ahand wheel or a wrench applied thereto serves to turn the screw and adjust the position of the slidable bearing block. The upper roll 31 is positively driven by a pulley 42 on the shaft of the upper movable roll 31 which is in turn driven by a belt connection 43 from a pulley 44.

To provide for a continuous movement of fabric to the printer, the scray feeds are so operated as to feed the cloth into the scray faster than it is removed therefrom. For this purpose, I may have two separate electric motors with their speeds properly controlled by rheostats, and connected to the rolls through clutches or other mechanism. It is preferred, however, to synchronize the speeds mechanically, as illustrated. To that end, the electric motor 50 of the mechanism F is belted to drive two rolls and 52 which are suitably mounted on a standard in such a manner that they serve to draw the fabric from the scray. A sprocket 53 (Fig. 2) on the shaft of the motor 50 is connected through a chain 54 with another sprocket 55 which is fixed on the shaft carrying the upper roll 5|. This shaft carries the pulley 44 which drives the rolls 36 and 31. This pulley 44 is made slightly larger than the pulley 42 so that the rolls 36 and 31 travel faster than do the rolls 5| and 52. This speed ratio is preferably such that a considerable yardage of fabric accumulates in the scray whilethe supply roll A is unwinding. This gives ample time so that the operator may sew onto the end of the fabric going to the printer the forward end of a new fabric before all of the accumulated material has been fed out of the scray.

It is also desirable to coordinate the speed of the scray belt 30 with that of the feed rolls 5| and 52. Hence, I provide a sprocket 56 on the shaft carrying the lower roll 53 which drives a reduction gearing 5'! comprising a set of sprockets and chains arranged as shown. This in turn drives the sprocket 58 on the upper shaft carrying the roll 33 which drives the belt 30. The sprocket and pulley sizes may be such as to give a speed ratio of 100 to 1, or other suitable ratio,

for the'fabric feeding roll 5| and the belt drivin'g roll 33. These are so arranged that the endless belt 30 moves at a slow rate just sufiicient to insure that as the fabric forms into loops in the scray, as shown in Fig. 2, those loops will be moved towards the exit fast enough to provide a steady supply 'of the fabric at the righthand end of the scray and ample space at the lefthand side for further loops to be formed. If desired, suitable clutch mechanism may be provided for stopping the belt 30. Also, the sprocket 58 and associated reduction speed mechanism may be driven by the shaft of the roll 36, so that the belt stops when the in-feed movement of the fabric is stopped by separating the driving rolls 36 and 31.

The fabric may be suitably prepared :for printing prior to its being rolled into the roll A. v For example, it may be first tentered on a standard tentering machine in order to bring it to a required width, so that it need not be thereafter stretched before it is led to the printer. In this case, the tentering frame C may be omitted from the present construction; or a very short tentering frame may be used, not for the purpose of stretching the cloth to a Permanent wider condition, but merely for the purpose of smoothing out wrinkles and getting the cloth in a suitable condition for its subsequent alignment with the printing rolls.

If a tentering frame is to be used in this combination, it may comprise any suitable construction oi the type of the Winsor and Jerauld tentering machine that is standard on the market. This comprises, as illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 3, two endless chain belts 5| riding on two sets of sprockets 62 and which are so located that the inner belt-run diverges in its travel forward. Each of these belts has a set of automatically actuated clamping blocks 64 mounted thereon and so arranged that as the belts pass around the sprockets the clamping blocks automatically engage anddisengage the edges of the fabric l0. Thus, they serve to smooth out or to stretch the fabric between them, as may be required. Suitable adjustment mechanism 65 may be employed for changing the angle of divergence of these belts so as to control the ultimate width of the fabric. The endless belts may be driven by suitable mechanism synchronized with the cloth movement, and any required constructional features well known in the industry may be used to insure that the fabric is properly spread out.

Helically threaded spreading rolls of standard type may be used in if desired.

A primary feature of this invention involves applying tension to the fabric just prior to its entering the printing zone and holding it under a substantially uniform tension. To this end, I preferably apply a braking mechanism which place of the tentering frame,

'tends to hold back oh the cloth as it is drawn forward by the printing machine. I may utilize any suitable mechanical, hydraulic or electrical brake which is automatic in its operation. I, however, prefer to employ a constant speed elec-' tric motor which is over driven by the running cloth at a higher rate than its normal speed and thus causing it to act as an electric generator. Various types of electric motor and electrical wiring arrangements may be employed, as wil be readily understood by one skilled in the electrical art.

A simple construction comprises a direct current electric motor of the type adapted to run at a constant speed with a constant load and to vary in torque directly with variations in the cur rent input. When such an electric motor is connected into an electric circuit so that it tends to drive the fabric at a rate of, say, of that at which the printer draws the fabric forward. the motor initially aids in moving the cloth when the machine is started, but when the cloth is moving at full speed the motor is over driven and becomes a generator of electricity and so applies a counterforce tending to slow down the rate of cloth movement. 'The faster the cloth moves, the greater is the countertorque applied by the motor-generator to increase'the tension on the cloth. The tension motor T. M. has the same general characteristics as another motor with which it is connected in parallel, and this second motor is preferably the printing machine driving motor, herein termed the printer motor P. M. The tension motor T. M. is soconnected to driving rolls l frictionally engaging the fabric that they will normally'drive the fabric at a slower speed than that of the speed of the printer motor, and that rate of drive of the motor T. M. may be suitably regulated to obtain the desired effect.

A simplified wiring diagram is shown in Fig. 6, wherein it is assumed that a source of a direct current of constant voltage is available and drives the printer motor P. M. and the tension motor T. M. in parallel. Each has its own series field, as well as a shunt field adapted for the purpose of controlling the motor speed. By placing a rheostat in the printer motor shunt field and mechanically connecting it to another rheostat R in the tension motor shunt field, it is possible to regulate and synchronize the speeds of the printer motor and the tension motor. A constant current regulating device of standard construction well known in the industry is so connected in the tension motor series field and shunt field as to maintain a constant current in the tension motor shunt field and thus hold the tension motor at a uniform speed and provide a uniform tension. This gives a constant tension or back pressure on the cloth as it goes forward tothe printer. That is, if the speed of the printer is uniform then the tension on the "cloth remains uniform because of the uniform current in the tension motor field. The speed of these motors is regulated only by varying the current in the shunt field.

A different wiring diagram is shown in Fig. '7, and as will be apparent by reference to the legends on the diagram, the direct current generator G. D. C. in the variable voltage armature circuit is driven by a suitable constant speed motor. This serves to drive the printer motor P. M. and the tension motor T. M. at constant speeds when the current is held constant. The arrangement of the fields and control circuit may be as illustrated. As therein indicated, an exciter Ex. is used to develop a direct current of constant amperage for the shunt field of the two motors and the direct current generator. A constant current regulator of standard construction which mechanically interconnects the armature and the field circuits serves to maintain a con-1 stant current in the shunt field circuit and this may be regulated as desired by the variable rheostat R. Suitable mechanism may also be employed to start and stop the motors as illustrated in the diagram, but this may be of any standard construction and need not be here described. By adjusting the rheostat R, the shunt field of the tension motor may be varied to change the back pressure or tension on the cloth.- After this adjustment has been made, then that tension will remain uniform because of the constant current developed in the circuit.

The mechanical features of the hookup as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprise the two drums or rolls HI so arranged that the fabric passes around them with a maximum surface constant. These drums 10 are connected by means of intermeshing gears I2 on the drum'shafts so that they travel at the same speed. One of these drums is connected by a further sprocket l3 and chain 14 with a sprocket 15 on the end of the tension motor shaft. If desired, the two drums 10 may be so mounted as to be held under spring pressure in contact with opposite sides of the fabric, or other suitable mechanism may be employed to insure that the tension motor is driven at a speed determined by the movement of the fabric. Other suitable mechanisms may be employed to provide an automatically regulated tension on the fabric.

It is desirable to remove the fabric from the scray at a rate which is carefully controlled and synchronized with the movement of the cloth through the tensioning mechanism and to the printer. For this purpose, I prefer to use the mechanisms F and H whereby the tension on the fabric is employed to control the rate of speed of the driving motor 50 which removes the fabric from the scray. A simple construction for this purpose comprises a weighted and swinging lever arm having a roller ti on its end so arranged that the weight of this arm tends to hold the moving fabric [0 in a distended condition. The arm 82, of a standard or suitable rheostat connected in the shunt field of the motor 50 is arranged to be moved by the swinging arm 80. The electrical mechanisms are so connected that as the arm 80 is raised by an increase in tension on the cloth I0, this will serve to so vary the rheostat resistance as to speed up the motor 50 slightly. Then when the arm 80 swings downwardly under a decrease in tension, the rheostat will serve to slow down the speed of the motor.

It will be noted that this motor 50; serves to drive both of the sets of rolls which introduce the cloth into the scray and remove it therefrom. Hence, the movement of the cloth through the scray is properly controlled by this single motor mechanism. This tensioning device I-I also serves to maintain a suitable tension on the cloth which is passing over the tension dr'ums or rolls l0 and thus holds the cloth under tension throughout the length of its passage from the scray to the printer.

With the mechanisms thus far described the cloth is fed forward at a required rate and is maintained under tension and it has a uniform width. The printing rolls it are suitably arranged for printing. the fabric and may have intaglio engraved surfaces for that purpose. One particular feature of this invention involves so aligning or tracking the fabric with each print roll that the engraved surface 90 on the roll need not extend beyond the edges of the cloth, as shown particularly in Fig. 3; whereas, heretofore, it has been necessary to have that engraving extend some distance beyond the cloth to make up for the lateral wandering of the cloth as well as variations in its width. This alignment may be accomplished by various types of tracking devices whether operated mechanically, electrically or pneumatically. I have, however, shown diagrammatically in Figs. 1, 3 and 5 a standard Durrant guider of the type described in the patent to Durrant No. 1,569,077 of January 12,

This Durrant guider comprises two pairs of rolls 9| and 92 placed above and below the fabric and in frictional contact therewith adjacent its edges. In this construction, one of the rollers The lower roll is free to be revolved by I arranged that when gripping the fabric they tend to move it laterally towards the guide. A rocking control finger 94 is connected to control the mechanism and it is arranged to bear against the selvedge where it may be moved by a slight lateral movement of the fabric. The feeler 94 rocks the lever arm 95 so that one of its arms lies in the path of movement of the lever 96, whereby the rotating cam 91 causes the lever 95 to be pushed bodily endwise and in turn to thrust the wedge 98 between the pair of rollers 99, the upper one of which is connected to move the roll 92 into gripping engagement with the fabric and to cause lateral movement thereof until the feeler 94 serves to rock the arm 95 in the opposite direction and release the rolls 9| and 92 from the fabric. The constructional details of the mechanism may be as described in said patent, or

I any other suitablemechanism may be employed for the purpose. The mechanism for'each of the pairs of rolls is the same, and their operation is such that the cloth is centered properly and held in substantial alignment with the edges of the engraved portion of the printing roll.

It will be appreciated that these guiders do not stretch the cloth but merely move the cloth laterally and cause it to track with the'printer roll. The cloth reaches the guider in its original stretched condition as found in the roll A from prefer that the mechanism for feeding the back, gray cloth I2 tov the printing machine substantially duplicate that above described for the fabric. The tentering frame is not ordinarily necessary, but it may be utilized, if desired. Helically threaded spreading rolls may be used in place of or to supplement the tentering frame. The back gray cloth may be supplied in rolls J (Fig. l) and be fed into the scray K by means of the power driven rolls IN and I02 driven bya belt connected with a pulley on the end of one of the power driven rolls I04 and I05, which remove the cloth from the scray. These partsare so arranged that the back gray feeds into the scray at a rate faster than it is removed therefrom, as above described. The motor L is connected by sprocket and chain I06 to drive this upper roll. The scray belt I! is driven by the reduction drive I08 which comprises sprockets and chains driven by a sprocket on the shaft of the lower roll I04 or other source of power, so that the belt may move at a required slow rate. The roll IOI ispreferably vertically adjustable by mechanism similar to that shown in Fig. 4, sons to stop the in-feed of the cloth without interfering with its exit from the scray.

The cloth passes through the tension control device M which has a swinging arm H0 and pulley III thereon adapted to swing thecontrol arm H2 or a suitable rheostat and thus regulate the speed of the motor L as above described with reference to the cloth tensioning device. From here, the back gray cloth passes with an extensive contact around the two rollsv H5 and H6 which are connected together by gears on the ends of. the shafts. The tension control mechanism N may duplicate the device E above described, and its wiring arrangements may be as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, or otherwise as desired.

printing machine, so that the back gray cloth will not lead the fabric astray.

The operation of the apparatus and its ad vantageous features have been fully described above and need not be repeated. By means of this construction, one may run a printing machinecontinuously although the supply of fabric comes in limited lengths, and the back gray cloth may also be in discontinuous lengths. I It will also be appreciated that each or the mechanisms above described may be utilized for any useful purpose in its association with the other parts. For example, the guider may serve to register the fabric with any desired portion of the engraved surface on the printing roll, such as is required in a multi-color printing process. It will moreover be apparent that one may substitute for the mechanisms above described various mechanical equivalents, and other apparatus well known in the industry or suitable for the purpose may be utilized in cooperation with these mechanisms. Hence, the drawings and the above description are to be considered merely as illusfabric of limited length, a receptacle for the fabric located between said supply and printing machine means for feedingrthe fabric from said supply to said receptacle at a faster rate than the fabric is fed into the printing machine, so that time is provided for securing a new fabric to the end of the one in said supply while the fabric is running continuously to the printing machine,

independent driving mechanism for removing the fabric from the receptacle and means which controls the driving mechanism and insures that the fabric is held under tension as it is fed forward thereby.

2. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having rolls and associated driving mechaism for drawing fabric forward into the printing zone, means for supporting a roll of fabric to be printed, a scray arranged to hold excess fabric during its passage from-said roll to the printing machine, power driven mechanism for withdrawing the fabric from the scray at the rate required for the printing operation, means for feeding the fabric from said roll to the scray apparatus comprising a at a rate faster than the fabric is withdrawn from the scray, and means for coordinating said mechanisms so that the fabric is held under tension as it is moved thereby.

3. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having a printing roll and associated power driving mechanism for drawing a strip of fabric at a controlled rate into the printing zone, means providing a. supply of fabric of uncontrolled tension, independently controlled mechanism which opposes-the fabric movement caused by the printing machine and automatically holds the fabric under a predetermined and substantially uniform but variable tension as it enters the printing zone and adjustment means for varying the tension.

4. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having a printing roll and associated power driving mechanism for drawing a strip of fabric at a controlled rate into the printing zone, means providing a supply of fabric of uncontrolled tension, independently controlled mechanism which opposes the fabric movement caused by the printing machine and holds the ,fabric under a predetermined and substantially uniform but variable tension as it enters the printing zone', and a guiding mechanism which automatically moves the tensioned fabric lateral- 1y into registration with the printing roll pattern. 5. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having a printing roll provided with a printing surface anddriving means associated therewith for drawing a strip of fabric into the printing zone, means providing a supply of fabric, means for stretching the moving fabric to a predetermined width and means independent of said driving means and the stretching mechanism for guiding the stretched fabric and automatically moving it laterally which insures substantial registration of the fabric with the printing surface.

6. A textileprinting apparatus comprising ,a

' printing machine having a printing roll provided with a printing surface and means associated therewith for drawing a strip of fabric continuously into the printing zone, means providing a supply of fabric, stretching mechanism which brings the moving fabric to a substantially uniform width and independently controlled automatically operated mechanism which opposes the fabric movement caused by the printing machine and places the previously stretched fabric under a substantially uniform tension as it moves into the printing zone.

7. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having a printing roll provided with a printing surface and means associated therewith for drawing a strip of fabric into the printing zone, means providing a supply of fabric, a stretching mechanism which insures that the fabric has a substantially uniform width, means for guiding the fabric and automatically registering it with said printing surface and independently controlled mechanism which holds the fabric under a substantially uniform tension as it enters the printing zone.

8. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having a printing roll and mechanism associated therewith for feeding a strip of fabric into the printing zone at a uniform rate, means providing a supply of fabric of uncontrolled tension, positively driven mechanism for feeding the fabric forward from said supply to the printing machine, means which serves automatically to synchronize the speeds of said mechanisms and means which opposes the fabric movement caused by said printing machine and holds the moving fabric under a substantially uniform but variable tension as it enters the printing zone.

9. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having a printing roll and mechanism associated therewith for feeding a strip of fabric into the printing zone, means providing a supply of fabric, positively driven mechanism for feeding the fabric forward from said supply to the printing machine and an independently controlled electrical brake mechanism associated therewith which opposes the forward movement of the fabric caused by said printing, machine and automatically holds the cloth under a predetermined substantially uniform but variable longitudinal tension as it enters the printing zone and means for varying that tension for a given printing rate.

l0. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having a printing roll and associated power driving mechanism for drivinga strip of fabric and an associated back gray cloth at a controlled rate into the printing zone, means providing a supply of back gray cloth of uncontrolled tension, independently controlled mechanism which opposes the movement of the cloth caused by the printing machine and automatically holds it undera predetermined and substantially uniform but variable tension as it enters the printing zone, and adjustment means for varying the tension.

11. A textile printing apparatuscomprising a printing machine having a printing roll and 4 mechanism associated therewith for drawing a strip of fabric into the printing zone, means providing a supply of fabric, a scray, manually controlled mechanism for feeding the fabric from the supply into the scray or for stopping the feeding motion, driving mechanism for withdrawing the fabric continuously from the scray at a rate slower than that at which the fabric is fed into the scr-ay,'so that the fabric may be fed from the scray after said supply has become exhausted, and means for coordinating said mechanisms and controlling the tension on the fabric as it is moved thereby.

12. A textile printing apparatus comprising a positively driven printing roll and backing cylinder for drawing a strip of fabric and an associated back gray cloth through the printing zone, and an automatically operated means for moving the back gray cloth laterally and guiding it into a predetermined registration with the fabric and printing roll.

13. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing roll and backing cylinder and mechanism cooperating therewith for drawing a strip of fabric and an associated back gray cloth through the printing zone, means providing a supply of back gray cloth, a scray, means for feeding the back gray cloth from said supply to the scray at a given rate, mechanism'for withdrawing the back gray cloth from the scray at a lesser rate and for feeding the same forward to the printing zone, whereby a new cloth may be secured to the end of the old one without stopping the printing operation, and means,which coordinates said mechanisms and insures that the cloth is fed to the printing zone under tension.

14. A textile printing apparatus-comprising a positively driven printing roll and backing cylinder for drawing a strip of fabric and an associated power driven mechanism for drawing both a fabback gray cloth through the printing zone, means providing" a supply of backfgray cloth, power driven mechanism for moving the cloth from said supply towards the printing zone and means for automatically controlling the rate of said mechanism and insuring that the cloth remains under tension as it travels forward. e

15. A textile printing apparatus comprising a positively driven printing roll and backing cylinder for drawing a strip of fabric and-an associated back gray cloth through the printing-zone,-

and means whichimposes controlled and predetermined tensions on the fabric and the cloth as they enter the printing zone.

16. A textilezprinting apparatuscom'prislng a printing machine having a printing-roll and power driven mechanism for drawing both a fabric and a back gray cloth into the printing zone,

separate automatically actuated mechanisms which insure that both the fabric and theback gray cloth are held under substantially uniform tensions as they enter the printing zone and in-- power driven mechanism for drawing both a fabric ,and'a' back gray cloth into the printing zone and separate guiding mechanisms for'both the fabric and the cloth] which automatically move 20- eachlaterally and insure registration thereof as they enter the printing zone. l

17. A textile printing apparatus comprising a printing machine having a printing roll and 'ric and a back gray cloth into the printing-zone,

means providing: supplies of the fabric and cloth, a scray associated with each supply, and means for feeding the fabric and the cloth from their supplie into their respective 'scrays at rates which exceed that of the movement of the fabric into the printing zone'so' that a new fabric and a new cloth may be secured to the ends of the ones passingthrough the printing zone without stopping the printing'operation.

. I I .sTEPl-lEN B. STAFFORD. 

